Villages Must Raise Millions

Bonds Could Finance Expansion In Marion

January 25, 2000|By Robert Sargent Jr. of The Sentinel Staff

OCALA - Marion County commissioners will hash out a proposal today to grant The Villages its fifth governmental wing, which could help the retirement community front millions of dollars for a huge new expansion.

The 1,700-acre addition south of County Road 42 in Marion is expected initially to cost The Villages about $26 million for roadways, water-retention ponds, street lights and other improvements, many of which are needed before homes and businesses can be built.

But a community development district could cover many of those expenses with tax-free government bonds to be paid back by future homeowners and landowners in the development.

Commissioners will hold a workshop at 8:30 a.m. at the McPherson Government Complex, 601 S.E. 25th Ave. in Ocala, to discuss the proposal. A vote on the matter will be later this year.

Marion planning director Dwight Ganoe said community development districts can relieve the county of the burden of supporting growth in rural areas.

``The original intent of development districts is to allow for alternate management and financing for services,'' Ganoe said.

He said as part of their review, commissioners will consider that The Villages already has three similar districts operating in Sumter County, which fronted millions to help The Villages become the fastest-growing retirement community in the state.

District No. 1, which includes about 3,400 houses, floated a $16 million bond in 1992 for everything from street lights and water drainage to water and sewer utilities and wildlife preserves. The district floated another bond in 1994 for $10 million that covered similar projects, as well as lake construction, wetland mitigation and landscaping.

In 1996, District No. 2, which will include 3,664 houses or units when completed, was granted a bond of up to $29 million. In 1998, a bond of up to $6.6 million was granted.

District No. 3, which was cre- ated in May to provide for 2,800 houses and units, has floated $12.6 million in bonds.

Each district handles its own bond debt, passing along the expense to future homeowners. The homeowners pay their portion of the debt through their tax bills.

The Villages' central government district, The Village Center Community Development District, is in Lady Lake.

Villages developer Gary Morse recently asked Marion's Industrial Development Authority to allow $8.5 million in bonds to be issued on behalf of the retirement community's Little Sumter Utility Co. If approved, the bonds would help pay for a water and sewer facility to serve future homes and businesses.

Little Sumter will have to pay back the bond debt over the next several years while the proposed development is built. The cost likely will also be passed along to future residents or other customers the utility brings into its growing service area.

The Marion development proposal calls for 5,000 houses, two golf courses, shopping centers and a network of roads extending north from Lake and Sumter counties. When finished in 2010, the project will be home to 10,000 residents - roughly the current population of Mount Dora or Clermont.

The Villages already has about 19,000 residents, which is almost half the size of Ocala.

Most of the property - 1,000 acres - is intended for residential communities. Commercial and office buildings will take up 85 acres, recreational areas will cover 460 acres and wetlands about 10 acres, according to plans recently submitted to the county.

The Villages has proposed two golf courses: a 27-hole championship course and a nine-hole executive course. Also planned are an Olympic-size swimming pool, a family swimming pool, a large tennis complex and two recreational centers.